Cantillon Capital Management LLC Acquires 130,870 Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 16.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 929,870 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 130,870 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up about 2.9% of Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Cantillon Capital Management LLC owned about 0.24% of Thermo Fisher Scientific worth $483,746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, EVP Gianluca Pettiti sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.59, for a total transaction of $175,677.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,582,009.17. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.26, for a total transaction of $5,302,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,960,669.92. This trade represents a 8.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock valued at $11,231,699 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Up 1.1 %

Thermo Fisher Scientific stock opened at $528.99 on Friday. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $493.30 and a 1-year high of $627.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $549.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $565.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $6.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.94 by $0.16. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 17.51%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, November 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TMO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America cut their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $675.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $605.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $656.86.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company Profile

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc provides life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services in the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company's Life Sciences Solutions segment offers reagents, instruments, and consumables for biological and medical research, discovery, and production of drugs and vaccines, as well as diagnosis of infections and diseases; and solutions include biosciences, genetic sciences, and bio production to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic, and government markets.